CNET Editors' Rating

The BadUsing those 12 buttons well takes some getting used to, and the mouse doesn't offer quite as much value as competing high-end gaming mice.

The Bottom LineIt's not the most elegant mouse, nor does it feel worth the $130 price, but Razer's Naga Epic and its built-in, 12-button keypad could help gamers and others gain mastery over MMOs and other applications with complicated control schemes.

Razer had a reasonable idea when it designed the Naga Epic mouse for players of massively multiplayer online games. Games like World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and Rift tend to involve complex control schemes, so why not offer committed players a mouse with 12 programmable buttons for quicker access to those various commands? You need to have a special interest to choose such a mouse, due to both the learning curve and the Naga Epic's $130 price tag. We're also not convinced the button layout is optimal, and the overall features feel sparse next to those of the Cyborg R.A.T. 9. Still, MMO gamers might appreciate the Naga Epic's attempt to give them more control. We recommend this mouse only to MMO gamers (and possibly design professionals) with especially dexterous thumbs.

This is not to say that Razer is relying exclusively on the Naga Epic's 12 thumb-side buttons to sell this mouse. A follow-up to the vanilla Naga mouse released in 2010, the Naga Epic is the wireless model, although it comes with a USB cable so you can use it while it's charging. The customizable 5,600-dots-per-inch laser sensor is welcome for fast-response gaming, particularly at high display resolutions. It also features three swappable pinkie-side pieces that allow you to customize your grip.

The highlight of the Naga, though, is the four-by-three button grid on the thumb side of the mouse. You can use the included driver software to program the function of each button. The software lets you create profiles to save different key-mapping assignments for use with different games and applications. You can also flip a switch on the bottom of the mouse to use the buttons like a numerical keypad.

All of that customizability is expected, perhaps, but Razer also includes some extra features with the Naga Epic to help you get acclimated to using so many buttons.